Foreseeable Future
by Hikishi
Summary: Preventer Heero Yuy is on the trail of a serial killer. When he runs across a possible suspect, he and his partner are pulled into a strange and dangerous game of cat and mouse. Threads become and tangled and they find themselves questioning everything.
1. Forethoughts

Author's note

Hey all.

After the long hiatus, Hikishi's back, with more fic. Apologies for the wait, unfortunately my life scheduled a minor nervous breakdown. However, I wrote myself through it, and this is part of the result.

It's another slow updater, due to the fact I'm still working on it, so just hang with me, and we'll get there in the end.

Foreseeable Future, by Hikishi

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not belong to me. This displeases me but hey, what can I do? So please, save your breath and don't sue.

Pairings: ?

Warnings: Blood, Violence, Swearing (of course), Death (though anyone important)

Genres: Angst, Drama, Action, Hurt/Comfort.

* * *

**Foreseeable Future**

**Chapter One**

**Forethoughts**

"Are you okay, Duo?" Hilde asked as her friend and co-worker hurried behind the bar, a blast of icy wind following him through the door and making her shiver. "You look a little pale."

He pulled his hair over his shoulder, as he came to join her, words already tumbling from full lips that any woman would be jealous of. A weak smile was tossed her way as he braided his obscenely long chestnut toned tresses, fingers flying through the task with expert grace in smooth quick motions.

"Yeah, Hilde babe, just…tired, I think."

The dark haired girl shook her head, impish face devoid of it's usual cute smile.

"You don't look good at all. Maybe you should ask Howard for the night off-"

"That Duo?!" The man in question interrupted, shouting from his office without bothering to check. "You're late!"

Duo grimaced and immediately began to serve their regulars.

"I can't afford to." He told her, ignoring his boss' greeting. "Besides, I'm sure I'll be fine in an hour or so."

Although chronically late, Duo never missed work. He was always asking for more shifts if anything and every time Hilde or Howard questioned him on it, they always received the excuse that he was 'saving' as an evasive answer.

Duo didn't seem to spend any of the money he'd earned, but he kept himself to himself, and did not bring his problems to work, which was exactly what Howard had wanted when he took him on and exactly why he still had his job.

"Hey!" Howard had finally come through to the bar. "If you're late again, I'll dock your pay, you damn punk."

"Sorry Howie, I-" Duo turned to him to apologise and swayed dangerously as his head swam. He caught hold of the bar and managed to stay upright, but Howard noticed and gazed at him in concern.

"Hey kid, you okay?"

"Yeah Howie, your shirt just making me dizzy." He commented as he found his balance, insulting the man's penchant for wearing very loud Hawaiian print clothing. Howard frowned at the diversion, not fooled for a second.

"Nuh uh, don't think so. You're white as a sheet. You sick?"

"Nah boss, ya know me better'n that. Too many late nights, is all." The young man took another order as he spoke.

"Seriously Duo. You shouldn't be here if you're ill." the old man replied sensibly, which was very unlike him. "We'll do fine without you."

"I'm fine Howie. Trust me. Anyway, there's no way I'm skipping tonight, it's Friday, you need me here." He shrugged at Howard's sceptical look, and rolled his eyes. "Hilde can't do it alone, and I really need the money. What's the problem?"

"Your health kid. Here." The boss handed him a coffee liberally laced with whiskey. "Knock this back." He waited until the long haired man had complied with his instruction and began to drink, then spoke again. "Yeah, I know you don't drink, but it'll warm ya up."

"Don't worry Howie, I definitely won't be making a habit outta that!" Duo nodded grimacing, knowing his employer understood the reason behind his teetotal state.

Howard grunted, and wandered back to his office, yelling over his shoulder as he went.

"Just make sure you don't collapse in my bar!"

As the night wore on, Duo's prediction came true and he did feel better. He and Hilde worked hard and fast to keep their customers' glasses filled, earning their tips through flirting and bar dancing. They made a good team. Friday was always the busiest and the best opportunity for a large tip.

The Scrapyard was a popular hangout for businessmen and cops from the local police force. The shift was in full swing when the late workers drifted in at about eleven.

"Hey Duo!" Quatre called as he slid onto his favourite stool in the back corner of the bar. The blond worked at the station and was a regular at The Scrapyard.

"Hey Quat', the usual?" Duo tossed back from his spot further down, serving someone else.

"Yes please."

Duo finished with his customer and began to mix his drink.

"Rough day?"

"Yeah. You?"

"I'm good." The drink was set down on the counter and money handed over, with the correct change following back. Duo did not accept tips from Quatre, the blond was a good friend, and he saw it as charity if he was offered money. They had a long-standing accord, that Quatre didn't give him tips, lest he wanted an ear-bashing. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really." Was the smiling reply. They both knew Quatre couldn't talk about his cases anyway. "I'm already gonna have nightmares over it, don't want to give you sleepless nights too."

Duo snorted.

"As if it would make any difference from my usual-"

The rest of his sentence was cut off as he became dizzy again. He clutched at the counter as everything whited out for a moment, unable to breathe and on the verge of collapsing. When his vision returned abruptly and cleared, he found Quatre staring at him in shock.

"Duo? You look as if you've seen a ghost. Are you sick?"

"I'm FINE." He ground out, even as Hilde shot him a worried and disbelieving look. "Don't worry about me."

"But Duo…"

"Drop it!" Came the unsubtle and snapped hint. Quatre, knowing better that to challenge him, just sent him a knowing scowl. An apology from his friend was quick to follow. "I'm just…having one of _those_ days."

"It's alright." Quatre soothed. "I understand."

And the truth was, he really did. Duo was glad he had someone who got it.

"So, bad case huh?" The blond nodded. He'd known Duo for a while now and the young man was an excellent listener, even if he didn't divulge any details about the case. Not that it mattered. The barman was an adept at reading between the lines in any case.

"It's a bad one." He sighed, sipping at his cocktail. "I've been asked to join up with the operation. But I'm not even sure I can handle it."

Duo scoffed.

"Course you can, you're the best Profiler Une's got. And besides, I'm sure tall, dark and handsome would love to work with you again."

Quatre raised an eyebrow in suspicion, but chose not to reply. Duo seemed to just know these things, but never asked questions. He called it 'intuition'. Quatre called it 'weird'. The slender young man also had the innate ability to know things were going to happen before they did. If not for experiencing Duo's gift first hand, Quatre would not have been here to believe him. He'd learned though not to broach the subject with Duo. Strangely enough, his friend dismissed it as luck. He didn't believe in his own hidden talent, and hated for anyone to bring it to light.

Duo had saved Quatre's life, in a very unconventional and exceptional way. The first time they'd met in fact. Quatre had been helping Duo, a mere stranger at the time, pick up his things from the pavement after he'd bumped into him in a hurry. As he'd brushed against the young man, Duo had suddenly gone very white and clutched his wrist.

"_Don't ride with the three hula girls today. They will be the last thing you see."_

At the time, the blond had thought he'd just met the neighbourhood weirdo and dismissed it. Duo himself seemed not to remember the episode apart from feeling a little dizzy and they'd both parted ways. Five minutes into his cab ride he'd noticed the three little hula dolls on the dashboard and had an inexplicable urge to stop the taxi and get out, Duo's eerie prediction coming back to him. Three hours later, and running late due to the silly feeling that had made him walk to his meeting, he'd seen it plastered all over the news. The taxi had wound up in a three car pile up. It took him three days to track Duo down and all the young man had to say when he saw Quatre was: _"__I__'__d had a feeling I__'__d see you again.__"__._

The rest of the night went fine for Duo, and at closing time, he bid Hilde and Howard goodbye and slipped out of the door before they could question his calling a cab. Eight blocks was not far to his home. It was gone two a.m. and no one was on the streets. Duo reached the border of the L1 and L2 districts when he heard footsteps behind him. He stopped and turned, but scanning the street, saw nothing. He carried on again, and the following resumed. Duo forced himself to stay calm. It was only another three blocks to his home. He'd walked this route a million times before. Suddenly the steps behind him quickened. The young man whirled around to confront his stalker and only saw the hypodermic needle plunge towards his shoulder.

* * *


	2. Seeing Double

Author's note

Hi again.

Well, second chapter's here already, figured I may as well post. Thank you to my four kind reviewers Snowdragonct, Chirichi916, Yilun and Katerina Shinigami.

Please everyone continue to leave feedback…I'm a little out of my comfort zone here and would appreciate the comments on my work. Thank you.

Foreseeable Future, by Hikishi

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not belong to me. This displeases me but hey, what can I do? So please, save your breath and don't sue.

Pairings: ?

Warnings: Blood, Violence, Swearing (of course), Death (though anyone important)

Genres: Angst, Drama, Action, Hurt/Comfort.

* * *

**Foreseeable Future**

**Chapter Two**

**Seeing Double**

Heero Yuy yawned into his cup of coffee ad he stood watching the C.S.I. team work. It was five a.m. Saturday morning and the serial killer had struck again. Wufei stood beside him, stamping his feet to ward of the chill. They'd both been called out by Une and assigned as the chief investigators on this case. From now on, their only job would be to track down the depraved lunatic behind the grisly scenes that kept popping up all over the city. This was the fourth in three weeks. The current crime scene was dense parkland that ran across the three central districts.

"Where's Winner?" Wufei asked as he glanced around.

"I called him." Heero grunted, tossing a look at his Chinese partner. "He should be here soon."

"Don't know why he bothers." The other man muttered more to himself than his partner, straightening his dark, silky tail of hair. "Why work when you don't have to?"

He was, of course, referring to the young Profiler's vast wealth. As a Winner heir, Quatre had access to a near endless amount of funds and assets, yet for some reason, chose to work, not only with the Sanq police force, but also in a job that was a mostly dangerous one and highly emotional in capacity. He worked for free, his wages paid directly into a charity's account. Rumour had it that he was doing it because his father made him, or that he was doing it because the orphanage the money went to actually held some of his illegitimate children. Heero was sure it was neither. He found himself shrugging in answer.

"No idea."

As he spoke, the blond jumped out of the car that had just approached. One of the crime scene investigators on the case came over to speak with them. Heero tried to remember his name, but couldn't.

"So what have we got, Barton?" Wufei asked for them both, unknowingly saving his partner from a tense moment, they'd both worked with this particular C.S.I. team often enough to be familiar by now. Barton shook his head, green eyes and white jumpsuit sparkling in the light of the floodlights. Quatre had already ducked under the boundary tape and stood beside them.

"Hi Quatre." The tall man greeted, making the other man blush.

"T-Trowa." He stammered, before turning to them. "Sorry I'm late."

Barton didn't give them time to answer, diving straight in to his findings.

"Victim is five five, brown hair, blue eyes, no I.D. Time of death, around three a.m. Evidence suggests that the killer committed rape before pulling off all finger and toenails. Killer then raped the vic again. There are strangulation marks on the neck and he's left another tape and photo."

"The pose?" Wufei asked and Trowa nodded.

"You wanna look?"

They followed him, Quatre hanging back instead and waiting. Une had all but barred him from going anywhere near the dead bodies, claiming that he was just 'too sensitive' for that. This fuelled more rumours that the Winner heir had ulterior motives for his job, considering that every other Profiler in the country saw dead bodies up close and personal. Heero knew there was another, more disturbing reason for his commander's order. On their last murder case together, Quatre had seemed to feel things very strongly from the killer by getting close to the victims' bodies, almost as if the women's emotions were his own. It had agitated the young Profiler greatly, as well as the two cops. However, he was damned good at his job and had helped to catch the perpetrator with an impressive character build up, laying rest to any fraudulent claims and allowing Une to sanction his continued use to her best employees, providing he didn't get too close to the bodies. Quatre was difficult to work with, but the three of them had come to a mutual agreement that satisfied them all.

As he and Wufei drew near to the body, Quatre, who had been watching from the sidelines, let off a choked cry and started forward on horror.

"Duo!"

Heero thought for a moment that they were going to have to remove him to a safer distance when Trowa called out in reassurance.

"It's not him Quatre, don't worry, it's not him. The victim's female"

The blond sagged against the officer who had sprung to their aid before and was holding him back, uttering a "Thank the Gods."

Heero and Wufei spent some time perusing the evidence and discussing it, before coming to the conclusion that it had to be the same perpetrator. Trowa and his primary partner, a red haired man by the name of Treize, were busy bagging the rest of the evidence when Heero saw movement between the trees. He moved over to investigate, thinking that it was probably a greedy reporter. They had been all over this case like a bad rash and it had been making it increasingly difficult for the authorities - namely him and Chang - do their jobs properly. A dishevelled figure stumbled onto the crime scene, tumbling to a stop at Heero's feet and clutching desperately at his leg, wide eyed and shaking.

"Hey!" He glared down at the homeless man clinging to his jeans, taking in the mussed and knotted hair with bits of undergrowth and twigs tangled in it. His clothes were ripped and dirty, and he was lacking shoes, feet muddy and scratched. As the man glanced up, Heero noticed that his pupils were blown, the size of saucers. Drugs, he snorted to himself in disdain. Where did bums get the money to feed their habit? Begging would never earn them enough.

"This is a crime scene!" He barked. "Get out of here!"

"Don't…don't…" The beggar whispered, eyes darting to gaze fearfully at the dark tree line. _Don__'__t what?_ Heero thought even as he tried to pry dirty fingers from his pant leg. The hobo must have really been on a bad trip.

"Yuy, get him off the crime scene!" Wufei growled. Heero stopped to look up, finding that people were beginning to stare.

"Please!" Came the plaintive whimper. The druggie began to show Heero his hair for some inane reason. "I was next! I was next, but I got away! Look…" Suddenly the officer was also being shown his foot. "I'm…I'm next!

"For the love of God Yuy!" It appeared that Wufei had taken all he could of the floor show, because he stalked over and grabbed the junkie's arm roughly, dragging him away from his partner. "You're under arrest for disturbing a crime scene-"

"DUO!" all at once Quatre was running to their aid. No, not to help them, he was yelling at Chang angrily, whilst pulling the bum out of his grip gently. "What the hell are you doing! Let him go at once!" He knelt by the beggar, pushing the unkempt locks back from his face and checking him over carefully. "Are you okay Duo? What are you doing out here, you're all filthy. What's happened?"

Heero's partner continued to rant in the background as the blond ignored him completely. Heero himself was stymied. Just what in the hell was going on here?

"He's on the scene of a murder! And he's high!"

"Of course he's not!" Quatre snapped back without ceasing his actions. "Duo would never touch drugs, now get away from him!" The blond pushed the Preventer away and returned his attention to his…friend. Heero squatted beside him. "Duo," Winner continued softly, trying to get the young man to focus. "What happened to you? You're a mess. And where are your shoes…"

Quatre went still and his face drained of all colour as he looked in horror at the interloper's foot, before speaking in a hushed, almost heartbroken whisper.

"We need an ambulance."

Heero leaned closer to look and his heart skipped a beat once he saw what the Profiler had spotted, freezing in his tracks and instantly understanding what the strange young man had been trying to tell him.

"Holy…shit." He murmured, gazing in morbid fascination at the bloody, nail-less toe. "He told me…he told me he was the next victim." Terrified indigo eyes peeked up at him from under a fall of burnished hair. "What's your name kid?"

"He's Duo Maxwell, a friend of mine who works in a bar not far from here." Quatre answered for him, before returning his attention to the potential eye witness. "He's supposed to be home right now, his shift finished over three hours ago.

"Quat' he…he…"

"Yes Duo, I'm here, I'm here, it's okay, you're safe." The profiler stroked another fallen lock of hair out of the young man's face.

"I'm next." His friend hiccoughed. Trowa joined them, checking the bar tender over. C.S.I.s had E.M.T. training as a mandatory part of their job.

"Can you tell me what you've taken?" He asked, slowly and calmly, but was unsuccessful in gaining any response from the frightened creature curled in the Profiler's arms. "Quatre?"

"I don't know."

"What's his name"

"Duo." the blond supplied with a worried frown.

"Duo, my name is Trowa. I need to know what you've taken, can you tell me?"

"I don't know. Don't know." The young man chanted as his eyes darted about wildly. "Don't know. Quatre, I was next, he said I was next!"

"I know Duo, just calm down hmm?" He soothed. "You're safe okay, let us help you."

"Duo, look at me." Trowa took his chin gently an made him focus. "That's good. Take slow, deep breaths." He smiled when his patient obeyed the instruction. "Hey there, I'm gonna check you over okay?" Duo stayed, docile, clutching at Quatre as the investigator palpated through his hair, looking for any head wounds. Trowa frowned, then held up his hand. "Now, how many fingers do you see?"

"Three…Quat'…"

"I'm right here. Let Trowa help you."

"Are you dizzy? Feel sick? Are you numb anywhere."

"N-no…no." Duo answered his questions with difficulty, shaking his head.

"Barton." Heero said softly, not wanting to upset the obviously scared young man. "Look. He's got something in his hand."

"Can you open your left hand for me Duo? That's it." He encouraged as his patient slowly uncurled his clenched fist. Even drugged half out of his mind and running only on adrenaline, this kid clearly had his wits about him. Trowa picked up the syringe with his gloved hands and bagged it, before passing it over to an officer. "Get this to Treize, and have him find out what was in it." He ordered, not taking his eyes off Duo.

"Do you know what it is?" Quatre asked in concern.

Trowa checked Duo's blood pressure and reactions, before settling back on his haunches.

"Not sure, but looks to me like it's a powerful date-rape drug. Treize'll have to test it though to confirm my suspicions."

The ambulance had arrived and Heero, feeling responsible for the young man, carried Duo into the waiting van.

"Thanks, Heero." Quatre said gratefully.

"A live one?" Sally Po greeted in disbelief as Duo was set down on the gurney. She immediately snapped into action. "What's your name sweetie?"

The Profiler's friend began to calm down as Sally bustled about, performing more checks and setting up an I.V., quickly assessing and tending to his various wounds. He'd broken two toes and cracked his ankle, along with a concussion on his head, a nasty graze on his arm and a heavily bruised cheek.

"Duo?" Quatre was suddenly, very hesitant, and Heero was shocked at the question that came next. None of them had even entertained the thought. "Did he - did he…rape you?"

"N-no." The young man shook like a leaf in the wind. "I got away."

"You're a very lucky man." Heero managed to say seriously.

"I…lost my keys." Came the numb, shocked admission. "And my wallet….gone."

"We'll find them." The Preventer reassured him firmly. Sally stood.

"Right, who's coming with?"

"I am." Quatre volunteered immediately. No one was surprised.

Heero himself was about to go and rejoin his partner when shock weakened fingers caught his sleeve and fearful indigo orbs stared up at him pleadingly.

"Don't…I'm scared."

"It's alright Yuy." Chang supplied, having already reached the ambulance. "I'll finish up here. You escort Duo to the hospital, and try and get a statement, I'll let Une know and join you shortly."

"Okay."

* * *


	3. Foreboding Thoughts

Author's note

Hi and welcome those who are still with us to chapter three.

I hope this one still inspires as much as the first two.

Again thanks to my loyal reviewers, Waterlilylf, Snowdragonct, cewo (welcome back!) Kendecia, Chirichi916, Katerina Shinigami and the ever faithful Yilun. Please let me know what you think of this chapter.

Foreseeable Future, by Hikishi

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not belong to me. This displeases me but hey, what can I do? So please, save your breath and don't sue.

Pairings: ?

Warnings: Blood, Violence, Swearing (of course), Death (though anyone important)

Genres: Angst, Drama, Action, Hurt/Comfort.

* * *

**Foreseeable Future**

**Chapter Three**

**Foreboding Thoughts  
**

The trip to the hospital took around ten minutes, sirens wailing to avoid the heavy early morning traffic. Heero had received a call en-route from his boss charging him with the task of Duo's babysitter. Although unlikely the press had gotten wind of this already, Une was taking no chances. Maxwell was to have a police escort with him at all times.

Wufei joined him at the hospital an hour and a half later, meeting him in the corridor as he blindly watched the dispenser chug out his fourth cup of coffee. Sally's patient had been treated and was currently resting in a private room, with a guard on the door. The dark eyed Preventer strode up to him quickly, polished shoes tapping impatiently.

"Yuy. How is he?"

"Still a bit shocky, truth be told." He reported. "Quatre's been keeping him company. We're just waiting on the results of the rape kit." He leaned against up the wall. "Have you spoken to the Commander?"

"Yes, she's asked if we've gotten the statement yet from Maxwell, and wants him placed in protective custody until we catch this monster."

"Tonight?"

Wufei nodded seriously.

"As soon as humanly possible." Came the tight reply. Heero glanced towards the closed door.

"I'm not sure Winner will appreciate us interrogating his friend right now."

"He knows the rules Heero. We need a statement whilst the event's still fresh in his mind."

Duo was upset, though co-operative. Due to the intensity of the drug he'd been subjected to however, he could not remember anything particularly useful. He'd managed to fight his attacker and make a break for it, stumbling onto the crime scene when he'd seen the bright lights and heard the noise.

"I - I knew, that if I found people I - I'd be safe." He stammered, clutching the blond's hand like a lifeline. "I knew if I found you, Heero, you'd protect me. Everything would be alright."

Quatre immediately noticed and recognised the glazed, faraway look in his friend's eyes. Duo's strange ability was at work again. Heero and Wufei, however, did not. The Preventer's blue eyes narrowed in suspicion at the information he'd never divulged.

"How do you know my first name?"

"You told it to me." Duo said, completely himself for a moment, then drifting away again. "Mary's happy. Lucy says it wasn't your fault. I'm supposed to save you" Heero's face drained of all colour and he stumbled back from the bed.

"You…who are you?" He demanded hotly, furious. "What the hell do you want! Where did you get that information-"

Duo came back to himself, looking down at his hands as the fidgeted nervously with each other.

"I'm not feeling so good…" He said quietly. "Can I lie down?"

"Not until you tell me who the hell sent you!"

"Wh-what?"

Things just degenerated from there.

Heero sighed deeply for the third time in as many minutes. He and Wufei had been banished from Duo's room a while ago by an upset Quatre. Apparently, Wufei's scorn and his own anger and scepticism had gone down like a lead balloon, leaving Duo curled in a shuddering ball on his bed. The young man seemed not to understand their ire and had completely shut down, unable to answer any more questions on his attack, instead retreating into his own little world, fuelling Quatre's protective streak. His words had made them uneasy though.

"No one. I've never told anyone about Mary."

"Maybe the press found something." Chang suggested calmly. Heero shook his head.

"No. Think about it Wufei, not even _you_ knew about this. I was the only one there and the only record of it is in the sealed report I filed to Une. I never actually wrote down the dog's name. No way he could have known."

Wufei snorted.

"You don't _believe_ him do you?"

"I don't know."

"Well you should." Came a pissed off and admonishing voice as Quatre stepped out of the room, closing the door softly behind him. "You'll be making a fatal mistake if you don't."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I made the same mistake," The blond replied coolly. "And very nearly paid for it with my life."

He explained what had happened that first day meeting Duo, how he'd also been stupid enough to dismiss Duo's warning.

"He's a psychic?" Heero asked.

"I believe so, yes. But Duo's not that confident in his own abilities. In fact," A dry smile graced his sometimes colleague's face. "You could say that he's completely unaware of it at all." Quatre closed his eyes in a long-suffering gesture. "You and I might call it a gift, he prefers to call it 'intuition'. He can't control it in the slightest, the visions come to him without warning and most of the time leave him dizzy, physically sick and confused."

"Why didn't you tell us about this before?" Wufei questioned, eyes searching Quatre's own as if daring him to lie.

"What difference would it have made?" Was the honest reply. Silence answered him. "Exactly. You can see why he denies all knowledge of it. People would ostracise him, exploit him. Not even his friends know."

"_You_ know." Heero quickly and sharply pointed out.

"Correction. I _suspect_. He hasn't out and out told me. But it's obvious that Duo is hiding it, you can see the signs clearly when a vision hits him. So we're currently at a stalemate. I've not asked, so he won't tell."

Wufei's cell chose this precise moment to ring. It was Une.

"Say's she can't find anywhere to place him." He reported as he stowed his phone away once more.

"The hospital have already discharged him." Quatre added. "He can't go home, not until he has some security."

"Une said she wants one of us to stay with him from now on, and gain his trust. Says he's going to be the key to solving this murder, if he can remember enough. Can he stay with you?"

They all knew Winner had a huge sprawling mansion. Perfect.

"I'm living out of a suitcase at the moment, the house was sold last week." Quatre shrugged apologetically. "I'd have him in a heartbeat, but he's going to be wide open if he stays in my hotel room."

"Too many people." Chang agreed. "And I have a studio apartment." Was his instant rebuttal.

Both looked to Heero.

"No." He blurted immediately, feeling his heart sink. "No way…"

* * *


	4. Past, Present and Future Tense

Author's note

Evening all,

I figured I'd put this update in as I'm going away this weekend and probably won't get to update anytime soon otherwise.

Thank you to Chirichi916, Yilun, Waterlilylf, Katleap, Snowdragonct, Wind dancer1981, Cewo, TKM, Kendecia and Katerina Shinigami, for continuing to review and supply feedback. I don't know where I'd be without you guys.

Anyway, on with the story.

Foreseeable Future, by Hikishi

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not belong to me. This displeases me but hey, what can I do? So please, save your breath and don't sue.

Pairings: ?

Warnings: Blood, Violence, Swearing (of course), Death (though anyone important)

Genres: Angst, Drama, Action, Hurt/Comfort.

* * *

**Foreseeable Future**

**Chapter Four**

**Future, Present and Past Tense**

**

* * *

  
**

Duo stared around dubiously as Heero checked his windows and doors. The Preventer's apartment was spacious enough. The beige couch he was sat on was comfortable, wide and low, the white carpet underfoot, pristine in condition.

"Are you hungry?" A voice close to his ear enquired and he jumped, head whipping around, wide eyed with fear. Blue eyes gazed back at him calmly. Somehow, Duo managed a small headshake and the face retreated, allowing his the focus on the body attached to it. "A drink then." Came the decisive answer. He watched as the older man strode purposefully into the kitchen area, returning moments later with two steaming mugs.

"H-hot chocolate?" He asked as the pleasant and slightly spicy scent wafted up out of the mug. Heero nodded.

"With cinnamon. It will warm you up."

"Hmm." Duo replied quietly as he took a sip. "Thank you."

"So." Heero set his own drink down after only a few swallows and leaned forward to regard him intensely. "Your friend Quatre tells me you work in a bar."

"…Yes."

"Why?" Fired back at him, making him start and slosh his drink.

"To make a steady income." Duo answered, nearly inaudibly. Then he straightened, determined not to be afraid.

"Don't you go to college?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Can't afford to."

"How long have you worked there?"

"A year or so."

Obviously Duo was uncomfortable, so Heero decided to end his interrogation attempt. What he wasn't expect was for Duo to suddenly meet his gaze.

"I was so scared Heero. I thought that I was going to die."

The next day Heero drove Duo down to Preventer Headquarters to file an official statement. Due to the drugs and shock, Duo's memory was shot to pieces and he could shed little more light on the killer. He eventually broke down, pale and shaking when Wufei pushed him too hard.

"I don't know okay! I don't know! Look, I've told you what I can remember, isn't that enough?" I haven't done anything wrong, why are you treating me like _I'm_ the criminal?"

"I'm sorry Mr Maxwell, but we need to make absolutely sure that we don't miss anything in your statement. You're a material witness."

"Duo, just calm down okay?" Heero found himself saying rather softly, trying to placate him. "No-one's pointing the finger at you." His voice dropped in warning as he addressed his partner in an undertone that the witness wouldn't hear. "Pack it in, Chang." He hissed. "he's trying his hardest. Do you want Winner angry at us? Duo's his best friend, he's already breathing down our necks as it is. Stop scaring him, he's frightened enough."

"Can't make Winner angry." Came the low reply. "A pissy Profiler's all we need right now."

Heero refocused on Duo again. The young psychic looked haggard and upset., lines of pain standing out on his handsome but washed out features. His head was resting on his uninjured hand, long fingers tickled by his multi-tonal hair.

"Would you like something to drink before we proceed?"

"No thanks." Duo squared his shoulders once more. "I just want to get this over with."

"Okay Duo. The man who attacked you, you said he was tall. About five ten or so?"

"He - he was taller. Maybe….six foot?" Was the slow reply. He shook his head. "I'm about five six." The young man picked at a nail.

"Did he have any distinguishing marks? Tattoos? A scar maybe?"

"No…" Duo responded. Then… "Yes." More calmly.

"Duo?" He looked up. The young man met his gaze, eyes glassy and unfocused. Belatedly, Heero heard someone gasp to his right. Wufei. Damn, the kid was having another séance…vision, whatever they call it.

"He calls himself Oz." The psychic said in a soft voice. Heero noticed the change in speech pattern, as if he were speaking to another person.

"Oz?"

"Yes. He's angry because someone…turned him down. He was humiliated. Everyone was….laughing at him. Like his daddy used to. She's gone…died in an accident. Oz is cheated…he wanted to make her pay for ruining his life. He sees her everywhere, smiling at him with that cruel look in her eyes. So he picks someone…to be her. The librarian was first. Oz thought she was perfect. Until she laughed. It was _her_ laughing at him. That was when when he got mad. When she was hurt it made him…happy. But the screaming was the best part. It told him that they were suffering, like he was suffering…"

"Duo, what was the girl's name?" Heero found himself asking urgently. Those beautiful blank eyes turned to him as the door began to open, holding him in their void.

"…Karin Hino…" His eyes slipped closed and he swayed a little. Heero jumped up and was around the table in a nano-second, catching the young man as he fell from the chair.

"Duo?" He called out as Wufei rose on shaky legs, staring at the witness as if he'd just grown a second head.

"What in God's name just happened?"

"A vision." Quatre said from his point in the doorway, a serious look on his face. "A strong one. He's passed out."

* * *


	5. Seeing Other People

Author's note

Evening all,

I'm aware it's Sunday night/Monday morning for most, butit's the last day of my working week. London was fun fun fun, but now I'm applying myself to get this out of WIP hell.

Mega thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially Yilun, Snowdragonct, Waterlilylf, Katerina Shinigami (Shi-chan), Wind dancer1981, Kendecia and lildeamon666. Welcome to new reviewers Dannie, Loki lee, and Heather. You are all making this worthwhile. Please continue to leave your comments.

Foreseeable Future, by Hikishi

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not belong to me. This displeases me but hey, what can I do? So please, save your breath and don't sue.

Pairings: ?

Warnings: Blood, Violence, Swearing (of course), Death (though anyone important)

Genres: Angst, Drama, Action, Hurt/Comfort.

* * *

**Foreseeable Future**

**Chapter Five**

**Seeing Other People **

Duo awoke a few hours later, on a sofa with Quatre leaning over him.

"Quat'?" He mumbled sleepily, blinking. "Wha' happened?"

"You fainted in the interrogation room." the Profiler replied calmly, helping him to sit up and pressing a glass of water into his hands.

"…Oh."

"How do you feel now?"

"Okay, I guess." He paused. "What time is it?"

Quatre glanced at his Rolex briefly.

"A quarter past four."

Duo struggled to his feet and reached for his crutches. At the same time, Heero appeared in the doorway.

"Shit….gonna be late for work." He mumbled as he searched for his coat. the blond tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"Work?" Don't be silly Duo, you can't go to work. Didn't you call in sick?"

"Sorry Quat', no can do. I can't afford to miss a night and Howie will give my shifts away if I don't turn up."

"You can't be serious?!" his friend all but yelled in disbelief. "For Pete's sake Duo, you have two broken toes and a cracked ankle! You have a concussion, you can't possibly work!"

"I have two arms and two legs Quatre." the young psychic told him stubbornly in a clipped tone. "I'm going to work."

Heero stepped aside as the determined man limped past him on his crutches. Before he had time to think, Quatre had launched an empty plastic bottle at his head.

"Hey!"

"Well what are you waiting for? Don't let him go on his own! Get after him!

"Why don't _you_ go?" the Preventer accused, and received a grim smirk in reply.

"I'm going to call his boss. If there's anyone that worries about Duo more than me, and is more pigheaded and stubborn than that idiot, it's Howard."

Duo was surprised when Heero beat him to the reception, waiting there with his car keys in hand. He immediately became suspicious and swept past him, heading down the sidewalk slowly. Heero jumped into his car and kerb crawled beside him.

"If you think you're gonna stop me, you've got another thing comin' pal." The young man was on the offensive, unsure of Heero's intentions.

"Baka." Heero scowled at him. Quatre's friend was very strange. He could be docile almost to the point of painfully shy, yet also extremely aggressive. What a polar personality. He wouldn't look out of place at a big budget premiere as the star. "Get in the car." He ordered. Duo stared back at him in barely suppressed anger and kept walking. Obviously he did not like being told what to do.

"I can walk thanks." Came the almost glacial reply. Heero raised his eyebrows in challenge.

"Twenty blocks with a cracked ankle?" Two could play this game. "Plus two broken toes and a madman after you?" Duo continued to ignore him as he thumped along, already tiring. "The Scrapyard isn't even close enough to reach on foot, even with two legs." Heero lost his patience. "Stop being stupid, Duo, and get in the Goddamned car."

"You'll take me?" The long haired man was entirely too disbelieving.

"I said I would, did I not?"

"No, you didn't." Duo's sharp mind supplied the reply, nevertheless, he relented and slid into the passenger seat. "But my foot hurts so I'll take you up on the non-offer."

The Preventer ignored the almost mumbled thanks and pulled away.

Once they'd reached the Scrapyard, , Heero helped him out and followed him inside. The bar was dim and empty; it was early still. Howard must have heard the noise they made entering and exited the office, wiping his hands on a towel.

"Hey, can't you read signs? We're closed right now…" As soon as he saw Duo, he'd crossed the room within a second and gave Duo a squeeze. "Holy shit kid!" The old man exclaimed, taking the boy's chin and tilting his head this way and that to survey the damage. "Who the hell did this to ya?"

Duo evaded his question easily, if uncomfortably, pulling back from the concerned man.

"Sorry I'm late again Howie. I'll work extra to make up for it-"

Howard would not be deterred so easily though, and Heero could already see what Quatre had meant by being more stubborn than Duo.

"What _happened_?" He demanded roughly, looking more worried. Duo stopped rambling and winced unhappily, fidgeting on his crutches.

"Some dude attacked me on my way home last night."

"Damnit Maxwell!" The grey haired manager exploded. "I _told_ you not to walk home! What'n the hell were you thinking!?"

"I'm sorry Howie-"

"Not the point!"

"Look, can we talk about this later?" The young psychic tried desperation creeping into his tone. "We have to get ready for opening and I'll be slower with my foot-"

"Have you lost your mind kid?" Howard asked in astonishment. "Ya can't work lookin' like that!"

"Please Howie, I really need the money…"

Heero was starting to get very unsettled with that statement. Was Duo on drugs or something, because it sure sounded like it.

"No!" Came the hard and fast reply. "'Fer God's sake, you can't even walk properly." Duo did not reply to this. "I can't have you working like that, Insurance won't cover you anyway. Go home Duo, don't worry about your pay check, I'll sort it." When his employee didn't move, he stepped forward to give him a brief hug. "I ain't changin' my mind, kid, go home and rest, you look like something' ate you and shat you out." Duo's shoulders slumped. "Now, get the fuck outta my bar before I decide to fire your ass." These words were said affectionately, but with firm meaning. Heero slid an arm across Duo's shoulders and led him back out in the bright sunshine.

"What am I going to do?" Duo asked no one in particular once they were back in the car. "I need that money…"

"You didn't listen to what he said did you?" Heero interjected coolly. "Your boss is going to pay you for the shifts you have to miss right now."

There was no answer to his statement. Duo simply leaned his head against the window and sighed, closing his eyes in defeat. Heero tried again.

"He's right, Winner too. There is no way you are fit to work right now."

"…" The young psychic sighed again.

Heero let him mull over things as he drove back to his apartment, intending to drop Duo off and ask Wufei to watch him for a while so he could go back to work for a bit. He wasn't prepared for Duo to suddenly cry out as they passed through L2 district.

"Stop! Stop the car!" And he was climbing out before Heero had even finished braking. Duo was moving across the pavement pretty quickly for a man on crutches.

"Hey!" Heero also got out and nearly dove over the hood in an effort to catch up, following Duo as he head towards a dilapidated building. "Oi, wait!" He reached the young man's side as he supported his shoulder against the eaves at the top of the steps, next to a row of buttons.

"Which one…"

Duo decided seemingly at random to press one. Heero heard the answering buzz somewhere inside and after a minute someone answered.

"Yeah?" a man's voice, distorted and tinny.

"Hey Zeek, it's Duo from two-B. I've lost my keys, can you let me in?"

"Two B's empty shithead, get lost."

Duo glared at the speaker.

"Zeek you fuckin' idiot, you've been tryina' set me up with your goddamn junkie cousin since that party last month. Let me in, fucker."

"I don't remember." Came the short reply and a definitive click.

"That's because you've been off your face for two fuckin' weeks!" there was no answer. "Zeek! ZEEK!" Duo yelled, leaning over the railing by the steps to hammer on the dirt encrusted window next to the door. "Buzz me in, asshole, or I'll torch your stash!"

Silence, then the door buzzed and Duo pulled it open, limping inside. Heero was a step behind him.

All at once, the young man stopped, and turned to him.

"Listen, don't you give anyone in here any shit." He said seriously. "You can't let anyone know you're a cop. There're kids living here, and if it gets out that I live here, that psycho….who knows what he'll do."

Heero scowled.

"I'm not stupid. Nor do I want to get shot by the crazy that just buzzed us in. Why are we here anyway?"

"I need some clothes, idiot."

The building was in worse condition on the inside, if that was even possible. The staircase creaked loudly, protesting his weight and the banister made him visibly recoil. The whole place reeked of urine and marijuana, the wallpaper, what was left of it, was peeling and brown. They made it to the first floor landing and Duo bent to speak to a kid playing there in Spanish. They moved to the second flight, where they came across a pair of drug addicts. Needles littered about on the steps surrounding them. Duo smacked them both across the head with his crutches.

"You better clean this shit up!" he growled dangerously, pressing the end of his walking aid into one's throat and pinning the other with a dark glare. "And fuck off. I see you in here again and I'll kill you."

"S-Shin…didn't know you was back-"

"Don't give me that shit. I see you shooting up in this building again and I'll rip your fuckin' throats out. Now get rid of it all and get out."

They scrambled around, grabbing up the needles and scarpering, though not before Duo had managed to land a good solid whack on each of their heads with his crutches. Heero said nothing, it wasn't as if he could arrest users after all. However those needles, near children…He followed Duo up the third flight of stairs and they finally reached the second floor. Heero already despised this building and it's occupants. A woman with red hair was standing in the doorway to one of the apartments, smoking a cigarette whilst her toddlers played behind her in the living room. She was wearing a cheap green sequinned dress and heavy makeup. Heero saw her eyes light up when she spotted Duo.

"Shin baby! Ain't seen you in days." she remarked as she took a deep drag from her little stick.

"Hey Starla, lookin' good."

"Cain't say the same for you baby. You look like shit hon'." She dragged her blue eyes up his frame, giving him a sultry smile. "Want me to kiss your boo boos?"

"Sorry babe." Duo replied flippantly but with a charming smile. "You're not my type."

Starla seemed to notice Heero then and a laviscious grin spread across her face.

"Oh? You forgot to mention your gorgeous new piece of ass. You back in the game sweetie? Stealing away my meal tickets hmm?"

Duo ignored the last part, hoping Heero hadn't understood the street talk.

"Starla, this is Heero Yuy. Heero, meet Starla Dee." The Preventer went to shake her hand, only to have Duo pull him back. "Whoa boy, I'd watch out, she bites." Starla demonstrated this by snapping her jaws together and laughing.

"Oh Shin, he's my favourite flavour."

"Thought I was your favourite flavour?" Duo teased. "Never mind. Listen, do you have that set of picks I left here last Christmas?"

She vanished from the doorway, leaving them only for a few short moments to get what Duo had asked for. She returned with a black leather pouch that was quickly handed over.

"Here."

"Thanks."

"So what happened to that cute blond that drops you off in his limo?" she asked, crossing her arms and leaning casually against the doorframe.

"Quatre's just a friend!"

"Sure he is Shin, and I ain't never sucked a guy off before." She said sarcastically. Duo decided to ignore that comment and told her to be careful tonight, asking her if she had a babysitter.

"Sure do!" Starla chirped. "Jewel finally got herself an honest to God real job. She don't have to do the circuit no more. Working ten while eight at some office. She stays the night at mine to watch the brats, saving money that way."

"Good for her. You're all better than this."

"And you weren't?"

"Can it Starla." He said a bit of an edge to his tone. The redhead shrugged and tottered back inside, as Duo bent to the lock of the only other door on this floor. Heero watched as he opened the little leather pouch and extracted three rods of metal, handing him to case to hold without even a glance in his direction. "Here, hold this a minute."

Heero did as he was asked, wondering how many different faces Duo Maxwell had.

"So, Starla's a prostitute?"

"Uh huh?" Duo's voice was muffled, holding picks between his teeth."

"Why do they call you Shin?"

"'Cause that's who I am."

The door clicked open and The young man made a happy noise and grinned, muttering self praise under his breath. They went inside, Duo smacking the wall inside the door and calling out a "Hi Solo" into the darkness.

"I thought your name was Duo."

"They both are. Look," The young man spun around to face him. "I've never known my parents, don't know my real name." He shrugged one shoulder. "I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of too. But that's in the past. It doesn't affect how you see me now." He shook his head at Heero's befuddled look. "I don't expect you could ever understand."

As they entered the main living space, Heero stopped in light surprise. The apartment was well maintained. It was clean and the furniture was of very good quality. Everything matched the décor and wooden polished flooring ran throughout. Paintings hung from walls, and the place smelt fresh like a garden. Duo shucked his coat and dropped the crutches to one side, choosing to hobble towards his little kitchenette.

"Sit down, I'll make coffee."

Heero did so, looking around in wonder. The first thing he spotted was the packed bookshelf. Duo didn't seem the type to read. Then again, Duo didn't seem like a prostitute either. An artist's easel stood next to the mini-library.

"Why do you live here?" He asked, scrutinising a collage set into the glass of the coffee table.

"What's with the third degree?" Duo shot back.

"Well, you could easily afford a better place."

Duo came through, two mugs in hand, one cream, the other black with the writing, 'Asshole, and proud of mine' in yellow on the side. The plain one was passed to Heero, who took a tentative sip.

"Milk and two sugars right?" The older man nodded absently. Exactly how he liked it. "It's cheap rent, no one bothers me and it's close to work. Plus I send away as much money as I can out of every pay check." Came the blunt explanation.

"I see." He watched as the psychic picked up a gold cross and rubbed it thoughtfully. It had been laid over a bible on the side table. Was Duo religious?

"Where do you send money to?"

"Maxwell Church Foundation." _Maxwell_. Duo's last name. "I was fifteen when some bastard decided payment for me sucking him off would be a knife in my kidney."

"You were-"

"Blowjobs and hand jobs only." Duo cut him off, staring morosely into his cup. "Anyway, I got landed in hospital, and that's where I met Father Maxwell. He fed me some bullshit about God loving me, and took me off the streets. Got me into Rehab twice. The second time was worse, but I pulled through. That was two years ago. I owe Maxwell Church everything. Haven't taken anything stronger than aspirin since."

Heero was amazed at the complex person sat before him.

"What…what were you on?"

"Heroin."

"Christ." There was silence, as Heero thought about it. Fifteen. He'd been a child.

"Does Quatre know?"

Duo shrugged once more, braid slithering over his shoulder to land in his lap.

"If he doesn't I sure as hell ain't telling' him. Poor guy had a shit fit when I told him I'd eaten outta dumpsters."

Despite the situation, Heero had to quirk a smile at his words. The other man continued to rub his cross, a comfort reaction, he'd guessed.

"How did you come to work and Howard's then?" He posed his next question. "You're barely legal."

"Lied about my age. He nearly sacked me on my nineteenth birthday when he found out."

"I thought you always told the truth?" Heero thanked Quatre for that little scrap of information.

"I do. I call it a lie because I didn't actually tell him my age. He raved for a few weeks and suspended me, then finally demoted me to glass cleaning so I could still work there. I was back behind the bar six months ago."

"I've seen your records, they state that-"

"My twenty first birthday isn't for another three months right?" Duo sighed. "Blame Quatre. He set that one up. Thing is, I don't know when my birthday is either. Born on the streets means I have no records, I didn't legally exist until Quat came along and fixed it. They could only narrow it down to the year. So it doesn't matter, because my real birthday could be any day."

For twenty one years of age, Duo seemed to have been through an awful lot.

Heero watched as the young man rose from his seat and shuffled towards his bedroom door. "So now you know my sordid childhood, what about you? Family, interests, your favourite colour?"

Strangely, Heero found himself answering. He didn't talk about his personal life usually, things like this weren't something a Preventer discussed with their targets. And Duo was not only a witness in his investigation but also a complete stranger. But there was something about him though. He had just slid past this Preventer's armour without even _trying_.

"I'm twenty three years old with a degree in computer programming. I was adopted when I was a baby. My father is a teacher and mother works as a nurse." He said rhythmically, staring at a sketch resting on the shelf underneath the table with mildly shocked fascination. It was of himself. Sleeping. Drawn years ago. The paper was yellowed with age and torn. "I like playing basketball-" A cry and a muffled thump sounded, bring his words to an abrupt halt. "Duo?"

No answer.

Heero rose to his feet, stepping towards the door his charge had disappeared through scant seconds earlier.

"Duo? Are you all right?" He asked again, sticking his head into the room. "Did you fall?"

The young psychic looked as if he had indeed fallen over. He was flattened against the wall, pale and shaking. Heero moved closer to help him up, frowning when Duo turned terrified eyes to him. The older man turned to see what had frightened him so much and also froze in horror, slamming back against the wall.

A body, dismembered, was scatted all over the silk sheets of the double bed. Pictures lay amongst the entrails and eviscerated pieces and a message had been painted on the wall in blood.

"Holy shit!"

-_The Hunt Begins_-

* * *


	6. Past Participle

Author's note

Konbanwa all,

Sorry, I'm in the process of learning Japanese and it's going….okay. Sorry it's been so long between updates, my internet got cut off (grrr) and I had to pay the bill.

Again thank you to all the kind reviewers of chapter 5, You're all keeping me going! Please let me know if it's still any good…

Foreseeable Future, by Hikishi

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not belong to me. This displeases me but hey, what can I do? So please, save your breath and don't sue.

Pairings: ?

Warnings: Blood, Violence, Swearing (of course), Death (though anyone important)

Genres: Angst, Drama, Action, Hurt/Comfort.

* * *

**Foreseeable Future**

**Chapter Six**

**Past Participle**

"Time of death, five a.m. this morning." Treize reported, snapping his gloves off as he approached the knot of people in the lounge. "Sick bastard cut out her tongue and she choked on her own blood."

"You're sure it wasn't him?" Une nodded towards the young man curled on the couch. The ginger haired investigator shook his head.

"Not a chance. The sheets were clean on the bed. None of his D.N.A. showed up on the body or the pictures."

"Yuy has been with him since we first brought him in." Chang added, gazing at his partner, watching as he tried to coax Duo into drinking some sweet tea. "He gets up at five thirty every morning like clockwork and calls me. He reported Maxwell was still in bed at that time this morning. Barton said the murder wasn't committed here. The victim was dumped here post mortem. No way would he," Wufei jerked a chin at the young man. "Be able to kill and move a body in half an hour, not to mention the fact that he has a cast on his foot and no transport. Look at him. He can't stop shaking. He didn't kill her. Besides, did you see that message?"

Duo pushed the mug away and stumbled off to vomit in the bathroom for the nth time since the authorities arrived. The sound of dry heaves filled the apartment.

"You're right." The head of the department agreed, brown hair swinging slightly as her sharp eyes followed him back to the sofa. After a brief pat on Duo's shoulder, Heero came over to join them.

"Commander." He greeted stiffly.

"Agent Yuy. How the witness?"

"Shocked by all of this. I want to get him out of here as soon as possible. He needs some fluid and medication."

"I'd like to speak with him first." She replied with a crisp note in her tone. "Quatre Winner is calling me every five minutes for an update and threatening to call his lawyers over the whole debacle. It's very unsettling."

"I'm not surprised." The Chinese man interjected, from the sidelines and Une turned to him in surprise.

"He's related to Winner?!" She exclaimed rather loudly, before lowering her voice to a very ticked off murmur. "And nobody thought to tell me this? What is he doing living here?"

"Not related. He's Quatre's friend."

"Saved him from a three car pile up a long time ago. Quatre never forgot it." Trowa added in his own quiet voice. Treize turned to him, excited.

"_That__'__s_ the psychic?! Him? But he's just a kid!"

The subject lurched to his feet and made another beeline for the bathroom.

"Don't let his age fool you." Wufei replied. "He gave us the killer's handle and the name of the first murder victim."

Une rounded on him, dark eyes glittering behind wire rimmed glasses.

"You don't honestly _believe_ him do you?!" She hissed incredulously. "No. he must have heard it somewhere, or he's a plant. There's no such thing as psychic abilities." She sneered.

"Trust me Une, he's the real deal. He knew my first name without hearing it." Heero supplied.

"You must have mentioned it-"

"He knew who Mary was." He said a little quieter, and Une blinked in confusion.

"Mary?"

"The dog. The little girl's pet. The one I spoke to that night in the apartments I blew up accidentally."

Une snorted.

"Read it in a newspaper."

"Duo drew me. Years ago." He showed her the aged paper. She was neither convinced nor amused.

"You are being naïve Yuy. The man is not a psychic, he's a con artist." Her razor sharp words raised the tension. "You're a Preventer. The job requires logic. Logic tells you that psychic powers do not exist. Use your head!" The Commander smoothed her skirt. "What has gotten into you Agent? Science and cold hard facts solve cases, not visions."

Heero folded his arms across his chest, scowling. His deep blue eyes flashed with anger, making him look dangerous.

"Meet him then." He challenged. "Talk to him. I bet that he will prove you wrong."

Une glared back, drawing herself up to her full height, intending to be intimidating. Distantly, Heero noticed the retching had stopped once more.

"I will debunk you delusions. E.S.P. is a _myth,_ and I shall expose Mr Maxwell for the fraud he is._"_

Duo had returned to the couch, and glanced up as Heero, Wufei and Trowa strode over, Treize and Une on their heels.

"Duo."

"Heero, I don't feel so good. Can we go outside?"

"In a moment. My superior would like to speak with you first." The taller man said, sitting down beside the trembling form. Une chose to stand, wanting to pressurise Duo. She levelled her piercing stare at him. Duo shrank back.

"Mr Maxwell, my agents seem to be under the illusion that you are psychic,"

"Wh-what?" He stammered. "Psychic?"

"Yes. Apparently you have made several 'predictions' that were accurate." She leaned forward, looking imperious. "And I want to know where you are getting your information from. It is a criminal offence to obstruct an investigation. Why are you misleading my agents like this?"

"Obstructing…what? No. I'm not psychic!"

Just then, Heero realised his mistake. Duo was convinced he didn't _have _ any abilities. He dropped his head, and waited for it to all go to hell in a hand basket.

"I see." Une smiled, like a cat with cream. "So you admit to perjury and obtaining highly sensitive and sealed information unlawfully?"

Une also had been thinking that it had been easy to prove her point.

None of them were expecting the curveball that Duo threw next.

"N-no…not psychic. I don't know what you're talking about…I didn't kill her." He whispered, deathly white. As Heero's head was down, he didn't see the tranquil look settled over Duo's features and the soft frown. "I didn't…hurt Midii…Daddy didn't hurt you. He just loves you more." The room went still and Heero's head shot up, locking onto the vision induced man. Une blanched. "Mommy doesn't like it….cries all the time. Cover the bruises… wash away the blood and…sticky…still dirty."

The Commander gave a horrified little squeak, her hands coming up to cover her mouth. Every agent's eyes were now on her. Some shocked. Some sympathetic. It wasn't hard to work out.

"No one knew." She murmured, shaking her head. "No one - I kept my secret…I buried it."

"Commander-"

"Air." She croaked, tripping on her heels as she stumbled back from them all. "I need air."

She turned away and fled the apartment, Treize going after her in a flash. The two had known each other for years, and the investigator was obviously rocked by the revelation of Une's abusive past and her silence surrounding it. Duo was not much better off. He had come back to himself, freaked, and was now struggling to breathe.

"My chest…hurts!" He wheezed tightly hands held fast to his ribs. "Oh God…help…Solo…!"

"Trowa was the first to react, and found a paper bag.

"Duo, Duo. It's okay. Here." He placed the paper bag over the young man's mouth and nose. "Slow, deep breaths. That's it, Nice long breaths for me."

The psychic followed his instructions, hands coming up of their own accord to hold the breathing aid over his face, concentration on the tall agent's words. Heero and Wufei could only watch as the C.S.I. guided their witness into a reclining position and gave him a mild sedative. Soon Duo was sleepy and pliant so Heero took him home to rest.

Later that evening Wufei stopped by with some of Duo's personal effects.

"Trowa's checked this stuff and cleared it." He announced, handing over the two duffle bags. "Winner came by and picked some things out for him after they'd moved the body."

"Thanks," Heero replied tonelessly, setting the bags down in his hallway. "How's the Commander?"

"Upset. Treize hounded her all afternoon. If it's any consolation, I think she now believes. Maxwell okay?"

"Sleeping, doesn't remember a thing."

"Can't, or won't?" The black haired man accused.

"Who knows? He has predicted anything about you yet." His partner shot back. Wufei shrugged.

"Maybe It is because _I_ have no secrets."

"Hn."

Heero was confronted with a different Duo when he woke the next morning. His greeting was met with a grunt as the young psychic turned away and stalked over to perch on the windowsill. Any questions were pretty much ignored. Not knowing what to do, he called Quatre.

"He won't even speak to me." Heero explained gruffly as he made up a bowl of cereal.

-_Ah- _Came the profiler's ponderous voice down the phone line. -_That__'__s probably the shock setting in. He__'__s very unsettled by all of this.__­_-

"That's all well and good Winner, but I can't work with him in this mood. And aren't you supposed to be building a profile for the suspect?"

He heard Quatre sigh. ­­_-Yes, I was supposed to do that __**yesterday**__ but then you two went gallivanting into trouble again.-_

"Well you'll need to get it done sooner or later." Heero scrubbed a hand through his perpetually wild hair. "I think he needs a friend right now, and apparently I don't yet fall into that category."

_-So you want me to come over and talk to him?-_

"Please. He's acting like he's going to fly apart at any second. And let me tell you, I am not partial to human time-bombs."

­_-Neither am I Heero, neither am I.- _Movement in the background suggested Quatre was gathering his stuff together. _-Right, I'll clear my schedule for the rest of the day, and come down to….Where the hell do you live Heero?-_

Yuy gave his address and with a parting shot of thanks, hung up.

* * *


	7. Forcing The Issue

-1Author's note

Good Morning,

Okay, yes, it's Tuesday, but I'm sick at home and bored stupid, so a-posting-we-shall-go.

I kind of like this chapter, despite the way it turned out, a lot differently from what I imagined, and I have to thank my two little stars Yilun and Waterlilylf for their huge help with this one!

Be aware that there may be another small gap between this chapter and the next as it's still deeply entrenched in editing stage, so don't say I didn't warn you all.

Again I beg for feedback, especially dying like I am right now…go on, make a writer happy…

Foreseeable Future, by Hikishi

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not belong to me. This displeases me but hey, what can I do? So please, save your breath and don't sue.

Pairings: ?

Warnings: Blood, Violence, Swearing (of course), Death (though not anyone important)

Genres: Angst, Drama, Action, Hurt/Comfort.

* * *

**Foreseeable Future**

**Chapter Seven**

**Forcing The Issue**

The angelic blond appeared within the hour, toting fresh bagels and a cardboard carry tray of hot drinks. Heero held the door open and gestured gratefully for him to come in, taking the bagel bag and cups from him.

"Where is he?"

"Lounge." Heero ushered him in that direction and retreated to the safety of the kitchen to watch the miracle of bringing Duo around.

Quatre murmured a greeting and touched Duo's shoulder lightly. The young man flinched as if wounded and Winner leaned down to converse with him in soft tones. Heero stood at the kitchen island and blinked in surprise as the psychic shot to his feet and started pacing, looking for all the world like a caged tiger.

"He's got me afraid to go home Quat!" Came the half furious, half panicked tone. Duo whirled around to face the blond, eyes flashing. "He's ruining my life!"

"What happened to Maxwell's Demon?" Quatre suddenly challenged, making Yuy frown. Why was the profiler goading his witness. "I thought Shinigami was afraid of nothing."

"You don't get it Q! I _can__'__t_! It's too much!" He buried his face in the blond's broad shoulder, shaking. The taller man embraced him tightly, before pushing him bask to hold him at arms length.

"Duo, listen to me." He gave the young psychic a shake when his eyes wouldn't meet his. "_listen_ to me! You can do this, I know you can. Running and hiding from this will not make it go away. Don't give in, that's what he wants."

"Christ Quat, I'm losing my mind!" He muttered in reply, indigo eyes pained. The blond tensed and his eyes became hardened, like strengthened glass.

"I know. So do something about it! Like Solo always said, Duo Maxwell ain't afraid of shit!"

Heero's eyebrows climbed in surprise. Winner had _never_ used crass language or spoken so plainly. The worst the Preventer had ever heard him utter was an 'oh my gosh'.

"Quatre Raberba!" Duo mock admonished with a shocked giggle. "Such a foul mouth."

"You can only blame yourself." The reply was matter of fact. "Who was the one to teach me how to swear in the first place, then? Who dragged me into bar fights, hmm?"

"That was _one_ time-"

"Bar fights?" Heero interrupted.

"Just a teensy, weensy smidge of an argument." The witness refuted, indicating with his thumb and forefinger.

"Duo, I had to lock you in the back room!"

"True. It's worse though when you don't have to."

Duo giggled shortly, then stopped, looking shocked that he'd managed to enjoy a moment of levity. Quatre took his hand.

"I swear Duo, we'll catch him. I _swear_ it."

Quatre turned out to be exactly what Duo needed. The psychic visibly relaxed and slid to sit at the table, whilst the Profiler waved Heero over.

"How are we going to catch him Quat?" Duo sighed heavily after a moment's silence. "We haven't even profiled him yet."

"That's because up until now, you've been in no fit state to give me anything solid to go on. I was hoping that you would be able to give me something today."

"Okay…" He breathed, then looked up, indigo eyes sparkling with renewed interest. "Okay."

Heero watched from the sidelines as the Profiler set his briefcase on the table and within thirty seconds his dining room had been transformed into an office.

"What do you need a video camera for?" Duo enquired curiously, and Quatre laughed lightly.

"You know I always record my interviews." Came the simple reply, but Heero could see Winner's smile and noted that there must be another reason for this. He made a mental note to grill him more on the subject later on, preferably when the psychic would be nowhere within earshot.

They got down to business quickly and Heero found himself sitting at the dining table also. Quatre seemed to have drafted him as some sort of pacifier for the young witness as he recounted what he remembered a third time, which wasn't much at all.

"It's all really….fuzzy," He admitted with a shake of his head, an hour and forty five minutes in. "I don't know whether it was the drug or the fact that I was scared shitless, but I can't - I can't make out his face." Duo screwed his eyes shut and a heavy breath whooshed out of his mouth.

"He's got you, Duo." Quatre said firmly, his gaze fixed unrelentingly on his friend's face. "He's taken you from the bright lights of the sidewalk, you're not safe."

"I…I don't know."

Heero noted the stutter in his tone.

"He has you Duo. It's all dark, you're somewhere far away from people. He's going to hurt you. No one's going to be able to help you."

"Don't…"There was a hitched gasp.

"He's holding you. It hurts. Bruises. He's going to kill you. You have to get away Duo."

"I can't, he's hurting me!" Eyes moved rapidly under their closed lids.

"You need to run. Move, before he _kills_ you." The profiler pushed more urgently. Heero was seconds away from calling a halt to this whole thing.

"Ohshitohshitohshit…" Duo whimpered, beginning to quake. "I see her - ohholyfuck, ohjesus, He's gonna kill me!"

"He's got a KNIFE!"

BAM!

Duo jerked violently as the blond's clenched fist slammed down onto the table with a resounding bang, and his eyes wrenched open to stare blankly into nothing.

A few seconds of silence followed. Heero opened his mouth to ask what the hell Winner thought he was playing at but was met and subdued quickly with an upflung hand along with a quick gesture for silence. The Preventer did as he was ordered, scowling deeply. The next moment Duo was speaking in a murmur.

"He didn't want me. He wanted a woman. Oz is mad now. I messed up his project. He wants me to die, so he can fix it."

Those luminous eyes stayed vacant.

"That's why he did it differently with Tina. He was angry. Next Oz is going to kill someone unusual."

"He's deviating." Quatre said under his breath to Heero. "Duo was meant to be a female. The fact that he wasn't has made the killer angry even to start deviating from his patterns. This is going to get very messy."

"It already _is_ messy." Heero hissed in reply.

"He wants that fucking nosy bitch from the next-door apartment dead." The psychic began to sneer. "She nearly saw him dropping off his present."

Winner and Yuy exchanged surprised glances, before panicked realisation settled on the profiler's features.

"Shit! The emotion's pulling him under!" He blurted and reached across the table to grab Duo's hand.

"Stacey….so sweet….so dead." The young man continued in a nasty tone. "He didn't even have the time to get to know her. Too busy making her pretty for the cameras…"

"Duo-DUO!" The blonde shook his hand trying to snap him out of it. Heero just watched in horror, as he sunk deeper into the killer's psyche.

"He's going to have to do something special this time, something to really get attention. Maybe two victims this time, the way it would have been if that little bastard hadn't gotten away-"

CRACK!

Quatre had stretched across the table and given Duo a hard slap across the cheek. It had happened so quickly Yuy hadn't had the chance to even see it, just a blur of motion passing his line of sight. It served its purpose though, and had snapped the young witness out of his fugue. Duo's hand went to his cheek in shock as his indigo eyes refocused on the Winner heir.

"What the hell was that for Quat?!" He demanded, looking very hurt. A smear of blood marred his lips and his fingers from where the profiler's beautifully manicured nails had caught the corner of his mouth and ripped skin.

"Oh, Duo, I'm so sorry!" Came an apologetic gasp. "You had some sort of vision, but it wasn't like the others, you were inside the killer's head and it was awful-"

The brunette held up his hands to stall his friend's nervous babble.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Quat! Vision? Are you nuts buddy?"

"He's right." Heero finally interjected calmly. "You had an episode and he couldn't bring you out of it."

"Not this again!" Duo growled in annoyance, a scowl sliding into place. "For god's sake people, I do not have any magical powers!" He slapped his hands down on the table. "Visions. What a load of shit! Christ, get a grip already! There's no such thing as psychics. Your commander said so herself."

Heero stared in disbelief.

"How the hell can you deny it? Fucking hell Duo, take a look at the goddamn clock. When you sat down, it was a quarter to three. It's now half past. Can you account for the last ten minutes?"

Maxwell blinked as if stupefied by the question.

"Why the hell would I need to?" He retorted angrily. Heero took his turn to slam his own palms on the table, making the other two jump.

"Show him the tape Winner."

"What? No!"

"I said show him!"

Duo glared at each of them in turn as they ignored him to lock gazes and argue.

"If he sees that recording, it could do irreparable damage."

"The fact that he doesn't even remember is damage enough don't you think?" Heero folded his arms and glared at the Profiler. "You can't keep it a secret anymore. He's got to face it. Show. Him. The. Tape."

When the blond didn't move, Yuy snatched the camcorder off the table and fiddled about with it, ignoring his colleague cursing him. He fiddled with it briefly, then managed to get the playback. He dumped the camcorder into Duo's hands and grunted.

"Watch."

The psychic gave him a narrow look but when Heero switched his glare to full force he grumbled and began to watch the little screen on the side of the device. Heero watched the myriad of expressions run over the heart shaped face as the video played, the sound loud in the silent room. Frustration, followed by a disbelieving frown. Then shock, and fear, rounded off with a dismayed cry as Duo flung the most likely expensive recorder away from himself and jolted to his feet. He was white as a ghost, and breathing like a two hundred metre sprinter at the end of a race.

Quatre opened his mouth to speak but The witness beat him to the punch.

"Holy shit." He breathed. "_Holy motherjesusfuck!_" His hands went again to his mouth and his eyes darted to each of them in turn. "That's crazy. That…that…Holy fuck."

"Duo-"

"How long?" He demanded, desperation in is tone. "How long have you known?"

Quatre winced as if physically hit.

"Since…since I met you." He lifted his gaze quickly. "I've tried to tell you before, but every time I brought it up you got so angry! You didn't believe me, and you were really agitated, I had to leave it!"

"And you?" Heero was suddenly and uncomfortably caught in Duo's attention. "You know?"

He found it in himself to shrug with an almost casual air.

"You had a vision the first day I met you, in the hospital."

"Christ! I'm going insane." He muttered with a little distressed chuckle. "Completely losing it. I'm psychic? God, my week just keeps getting better and better."

"Look Duo, now is not the time to have a sudden emotional crisis." The Preventer snapped. He was just about at the end of his tether. "In case you've forgotten, there is a killer on the loose, and he wants you dead. So if you could pull your head out of your own ass for twenty seconds I for one would be extremely grateful."

This seemed to be exactly what the young man needed, his head whipped around, braid flying behind him as he leveled Heero with a stare that could only be described as scorching.

"Were you born an asshole? Or was it something you grew into, because it seems a couple of sizes too small." He sneered.

"At least I'm not running from myself." Came the sharp retort and Duo reeled back as if he'd been slapped again.

"How the hell am I supposed to know I'm psychic? I can't even remember what the hell happened!"

"Well maybe if you stopped being such a child about it you would remember. This is a _murder_ investigation, Maxwell, And in case you haven't noticed, you are the star witness!"

"Hello? Also in imminent danger here!" Was the heavily laden sarcastic reply.

"Will you two shut up!"

Quatre's strident tones stopped them in their tracks.

"_Thank_ you." The Profiler straightened his clothes a little and sat again, prompting the Heero to do the same. Duo apparently, had other ideas, and turned to face the window, arms crossed tightly over his chest. Trying to hold something in or keep something out, Heero wasn't sure. "Now, Duo, we need to start the session again. You got pulled under before and I'd like to try and get some more solid infor-"

The brown haired man interrupted him softly, not turning around.

"No, Quat. Enough for today."

"But Duo…."

"Please."

The single word was so softly spoken that Heero had to strain to hear it. Quatre heaved a colossal sigh and nodded once, sharply.

"Okay."

Duo's shoulder's slumped in abject relief, but tensed up again as the blond velvet covered steel tones graced the air once more.

"Don't think I'm giving in Duo Maxwell, because I'm not. We will be sitting down again tomorrow and we will be profiling this psycho." He picked up the camcorder and closed the viewer with a quiet snick, keeping his eyes resolutely on the young witness. "We need to catch up to him Duo. Before he catches up and kills _you._"

* * *


	8. Predicting Trouble

-1Author's note

Hi all

It's been SUCH a long time! I'm so sorry, my ISP was unforgiving when it came to a payment and I nearly died when I couldn't get back on to post.

However, I managed to return. This chapter's more a bit of fluffy fun than anything else before _bad things _happen, so take whilst you can get it!

As always, thank you all for sticking with me and sorry if I didn't reply to your review due to the net failure hiccup thing.

Foreseeable Future, by Hikishi

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not belong to me. This displeases me but hey, what can I do? So please, save your breath and don't sue.

Pairings: ?

Warnings: Blood, Violence, Swearing (of course), Death (though anyone important)

Genres: Angst, Drama, Action, Hurt/Comfort.

* * *

**Foreseeable Future**

**Chapter Eight**

**Predicting Trouble**

Another twenty four hours flew by with no further clues, or activity. Heero found himself splashing out on a full Chinese banquet to appease both his sulky charge and Wufei, who had dropped by on more of a social call than anything else. They talked shop over dinner and retired to the living room to watch movies after he left.

The company seemed to have brought Duo out of his funk, as he sat watching the film and making the occasional comment.

"You know," Duo spoke up as the credits began to roll. "I'm sorry you have to babysit me. I can be a complete pain in the ass on good days."

"You said it, not me." Heero pointed out, snagging the mostly empty popcorn bowl and making his way to the kitchen area.

"Yeah. Quat tells me that I can be frustrating." He sighed. "I guess I just wanted to…say thank you. For protecting me."

"Just doing my job."

And in the instant the words left his mouth, Heero knew it was without a doubt the most asshole thing he could have said.

"Of course."

The door chime went before either of them could speak and Heero went to answer before he could do something like shove his foot further down his throat.

He didn't know what he was expecting when he pulled open the door, but a priest and a nun certainly wasn't it.

"Can I help you?"

The priest smiled benignly and spoke.

"Yes, we're from the church and we'd like to talk to you today about-"

There was the unmistakeable sound of Duo choking on his drink and spraying all over the lounge and a loud "Holy Jesus Christ _whatthefuck_?!"

"Duo Maxwell! what have I told you about taking the Lord's name in vain?" The priest called in a stern tone.

"Sorry Father!" Came the apologetic reply. Then… "Father?" The witness stumped over to the door and stood peering over Heero's shoulder in disbelief. "Father, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same question of you my child." His smile faded and Heero watched the man's face grow stormy as he looked them up and down. "Duo? I think you'd better come with me."

The Preventer was, to say the least, stymied. Duo leaning on his shoulder had apparently offended the cleric somewhat but he couldn't for the life of him, figure out why. Still couldn't when Duo shrieked in his ear and began to laugh, really hard. The priest glared at them and Heero wanted to punch the psychic, who had currently buried his head into his neck, howling with mirth.

"Duo, this isn't funny."

"It's freaking _hilarious_!" The long haired man huffed between giggles.

"Would you like to let us in on the joke Duo?" The nun asked, even her lips twitched at the open display of mirth.

"Oh hey, Sis-sister Helen!" he hiccupped, and shook even harder with laughter.

"Duo…" Heero warned.

"Jeez, this is so funny! Father Maxwell - your face!"

If anything, the priest's glare intensified.

"I still fail to see the humour."

"Father Maxwell's trying to protect my _virtue_." Duo wheezed.

Yuy blinked.

Looked at the priest.

Remembered that he had not bothered to change out of boxers and t-shirt today.

Remembered that Duo was wearing one of his shirts that was entirely too big and swamped him down to mid thigh, making him look like he wasn't wearing _anything_ underneath.

That he hadn't brushed his hair after washing it.

"This…isn't what it looks like." Heero babbled. Duo burst into a fresh set of loud giggles at his words. The Preventer tried to elbow him but mostly missed.

"Oh, and what is it supposed to look like?" Father Maxwell questioned.

"Look, I'm a Preventer…"

"A Preventer? Surely the law isn't this corrupted!"

"No you don't understand-"

"Ya don't have to worry about my virtue Father." Duo snorted. "Heero's a perfect gentleman."

"You're not helping, Maxwell." Heero hissed, wishing he had a gag.

"He's my guard!" The psychic announced gleefully.

"I'm not your guard Duo!" He shot back, then turned to address the two visitors in as polite a tone as he could manage. "Would you like to come inside whilst I call my superior? This could take some explaining."

"Thank you young man."

Heero stepped back to let them pass and headed for the phone. Une was not going to be happy at the turn of events. As he picked up the cordless from the hall table, he hear Sister Helen gasp.

"Duo, what happened to you? You look _terrible_."

"Well, I sorta had a bit of a lucky escape…"

Agent Yuy whacked the plastic against his forehead. Une was going to kill him.

* * *


	9. Visible Denial

Author's note

Hi guys,

I went AWOL again didn't I. Well don't say I didn't warn you.

Anyway, Thank you to those who took the time to look up the story recently and give me a prod…it helped a LOT to get me moving again.

As always, keep reading, and feedback, I can't post more if you don't tell me you want me to!

Foreseeable Future, by Hikishi

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not belong to me. This displeases me but hey, what can I do? So please, save your breath and don't sue.

Pairings: ?

Warnings: Blood, Violence, Swearing (of course), Death (though not anyone important)

Genres: Angst, Drama, Action, Hurt/Comfort.

* * *

**Foreseeable Future**

**Chapter Nine**

**Visible Denial**

"Tizzy and the kids are alright then?" Duo asked the nun once they were seated with cups of tea. Sister Helen was seated next to him on the couch and Father Maxwell had perched himself on the armchair. Heero had never felt like he was intruding in his own home like this before.

"Yes Duo, all of your Fallen are fine. Jade has a poetry recital next week."

"Ah crap, I'm gonna miss that."

They ignored the expletive this time.

"You can't come?"

The psychic blew out a breath and shook his head.

"You know I hate to disappoint the kids, but I can't risk being seen with them. What if I'm seen there? We still haven't caught this guy and he could be anyone. If he knows about the church then you'll all be in danger too. I can't do that to you. Or them."

"Of course Duo, they'll understand."

"They won't and you know it." Duo sighed. "Scramble'll pitch a fit. They're so used to seeing me on a regular basis. They need routine. We'll lose some ground if I'm not there. Who knows how long this will go on for?

"There's nothing to be done about it though." Father Maxwell pointed out calmly. "As you said yourself Duo, This man is determined to hurt you. The children would devastated if something happened to you."

The nun was quick to add her own remark.

"Something has already happened. Duo, if you come to the House covered in bruises like that, the children are going to ask questions. You can't lie to them looking like that. They're going to close ranks around you and that's ten times worse than not showing up at all. They look up to you and will want to protect you as you do them. Don't let them get dangerous ideas like that."

"I know. I know you're right. But it's going to be hard. I'll be letting them down. Betsy and Winx especially. Jade's been at the House longer, so she'll understand. The new kids won't though, they need stability."

"Why don't you call us? It's not the same, granted, but it will help. The children would love to hear your voice."

Duo looked surprised at the suggestion and slapped his forehead.

"Jeez, why didn't I think of that? Thanks Sister. You always were the sensible one."

She chuckled.

"Well, I do have some experience with looking after the little ducklings. Don't you remember last year when you couldn't make it to Damien's chess match because your friend was sick in hospital? You spent a fortune on a two hour international phone call."

"They hate it when you call them that you know?"

"Not unlike a certain flighty young man who earned the nickname of Sparrow I guess." The Priest interjected. Sister Helen seemed surprised.

"You didn't like being called sparrow?" She asked in a wounded tone.

"Ah, Sister, you know, your pet names are terrible." Duo winked. "But we love you, so we'll do anything to make you happy." This garnered a blinding smile from the woman. "Don't worry about it, the kids love it, really."

"Thank you Duo."

Father Maxwell rose to his feet and cleared his throat.

"We should be going. Our outreach session ends soon and we need to get back the church before the children finish school."

Helen also got to her feet and hugged Duo carefully. She looked towards Heero. "You will look after our Duo won't you?"

"Of course."

"I'll pray for you."

Duo rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'd say don't bother, Sister, but you always believed it'd help, so go right ahead." As she started to speak, he raised his hand to cut her off. "Don't. I know you're trying to help, and I appreciate it, I really do, but we'll never agree on this."

The nun seemed to take his words in her stride and nodded, before giving him a smile.

"You stay out of trouble Duo Maxwell."

The psychic returned the grin, though it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Don't I always?"

Heero was surprised to find the next morning that he and his bright eyed house guest had segued into some sort of routine. He was sat at the kitchen island reading the paper as Duo made his morning coffee. Well, Duo _called_ it coffee, when in actual fact it was sludge with an obscene amount of sugar. The young man claimed in an uncharacteristic yet fitting snobby tone that milk 'ruined the purity' in the taste of the drink. Heero had given him his own spoon in a bid to combat the tarnishing of his silverware. Duo liked to leave the spoon in the mug as he drank. He listened to him chatter away over the clink of metal against ceramic.

"I just don't get it." He was saying. "You keep asking questions about me, and most people don't. I'm a private kinda person, y'know."

"Hmm." Heero kept him eyes on the paper.

"Why do you need to know so much anyway?"

Heero flicked his gaze up to regard him.

"You interest me. And how am I supposed to do my job and protect you when I don't know all the facts about the situation? Besides, Winner knows you well."

"He takes me at face value Heero." Duo leaned his elbows on the countertop and rested his chin on his palms. "He thinks there's nothing more to me than what I tell him."

"You're saying he's stupid?"

Maxwell waved a hand dismissively.

"No! Not at all. I'm saying that he thinks I'm really open because I act like I am. He doesn't see a need to pry, because as far as he's concerned, I've told him everything interesting about me."

Heero flipped down the paper and set it aside, munching on a triangle of toast as he thought about his rebuttal.

"Is it the same with the others? Howard, and Starla?"

"Sort of. I like my life as it is. Separate. Hilde knows I like to work long hours at the bar, but not why. Quatre doesn't have a clue why I hoard things, but likes my 'packrat' tendencies. Howard only knows that I don't drink, not that I'm frightened to. I'm not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, Heero, and I don't pretend to be. But I've made it clear to my friends when they should back off. You however, don't seem to know the meaning of the word 'boundaries'."

Heero frowned.

"So why don't you drink?" He asked, wanting to be an infuriating ass. After all, why mess with a good system. Annoying Maxwell seemed to be the best way to get an answer.

"God, don't you listen to anything?" Duo blew out a breath. "I would have thought it was obvious after the drug conversation. I have an addictive personality. It doesn't take much to get me hooked. I'd rather not go through that again." He shuddered. "_Really_."

Heero just shrugged nonchalantly and snapped up the paper again.

"Doesn't change the amount of coffee you drink."

"Doesn't change the quality of the crap you buy and call coffee either." Duo shot back in a snappish but good natured tone.

Anyone listening in to them would they were spoiling for an argument. The Preventer thought it made for entertaining banter. Duo stole a triangle of mostly cold toast from his plate, earning a glare at the action.

"I hate you." Yuy said, not sure what to think when the words came out sounding affectionate.

"I feel exactly the same way." The younger man replied with a sigh.

Heero had a sneaking suspicion that for the both of them, there may have well been a huge purple elephant in the room.


	10. Two Steps Back

-1Author's note

Hi guys,

Well, it's the new year and a new little post. Miss Yilun asked when they all finally get together for a scene…hehehe.

Keep reviewing please, it really does help me to think of new ideas, and I love to be inspired by your questions.

Foreseeable Future, by Hikishi

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not belong to me. This displeases me but hey, what can I do? So please, save your breath and don't sue.

Pairings: ?

Warnings: Blood, Violence, Swearing (of course), Death (though not anyone important)

Genres: Angst, Drama, Action, Hurt/Comfort.

* * *

**Foreseeable Future**

**Chapter Ten**

**Two Steps Back**

Duo was to spend the day with Quatre trying to go over the events again in an attempt to gain more insight into the killer. Heero was in his office going over paperwork when Trowa and Treize wandered in.

"Barton, Khushrenada?" Wufei straightened up in his chair, eyeing them both in interest. His partner watched silently at the exchange. "What do you have for us?"

"Nothing much, again. This guy's way too meticulous. He leaves virtually no evidence."

"Nothing again?" Wufei growled in annoyance. "This guy's getting on my last nerve."

"Duo's not given anything more either. Winner came over him the other night to talk and he admitted that every time he tries to connect with the killer, he either gets white noise or pulled hard. He's scared to let go and try for something in case we get a repeat of the last time."

Wufei waved a hand impatiently.

"Wait, wait, wait. He _knows_ he's psychic now? When the hell did this happen Yuy?"

Heero looked across at his partner. Chang seemed a little pissed off at the new development.

"We talked about it when you came over two days ago. I ordered in remember?"

"Yet somehow during the whole two hours I was there you failed to mention that Maxwell was suddenly remembering his visions."

"He doesn't remember them." Heero shot back peevishly. "Winner tapes them and we play them back."

Wufei frowned and his tone became grumpy.

"Don't know why he was in denial to begin with. And when did he become 'Duo'?"

"About the same time we found a dead body in his apartment!"

The words were indignant, and the long haired preventer narrowed his eyes at the tone. Heero knew what Wufei was implying, as agent Yuy had never gotten this close to a witness in an investigation before. He couldn't tell if he disapproved, or if it was simply the surprise of it all.

"About that body…" Treize interrupted smoothly, gaining their attention again.

"I thought you'd found nothing?"

Trowa held up a finger to pause them.

"Correction. Treize said we'd found nothing _much_."

"However, we did find something of interest."

Yuy leaned forward, curious, whilst Wufei hummed in a 'go ahead and tell me' fashion. Barton produced a file and tossed it onto Chang's desk.

"Take a look."

Heero ambled over to his partners desk to peruse the opened file in the Chinese man's hands.

"You found _what_ in her stomach?"

Treize raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"We told you it would be interesting."

Heero blinked in surprise at the results and locked his gaze with Trowa.

"So why did she swallow a photo? More importantly, how did she swallow the photo?"

"How? In pieces." Was the succinct reply. "Why? I'm not entirely sure. I certainly don't think our killer forced her to eat it."

"The victim tried to give us a clue?"

Well I'm sure the murderer didn't want us to have this photo. Not only does it have a partial fingerprint that doesn't match the victim. It also has a date and time stamp in the back."

"The others didn't."

"Correction." Trieze said smugly. "They would have. _If_ he didn't cut them off each one."

"We missed this." Wufei muttered in annoyance. "How did we miss this?" He asked his partner. Yuy looked to the other two for an answer.

"This, Chang, is why we're the CSIs and you're just a detective."

_____

Heero watched from his seat as Duo and Quatre wandered into the cafeteria together and joined the line, grabbing trays. He was pretty sure the psychic wasn't supposed to be in here amongst agents discussing their cases, but then, no one had said anything yet. He only hoped that the Commander didn't catch him in here. Une on his ass was the last thing he needed right now.

His eyes followed them through the line, Duo allowing the Profiler to carry his tray so his own hands were free to use the crutches.

The blond spotted them suddenly, and signalled to his friend, jerking his head over to the rather crowded table. As they closed in, recognition flashed in Duo's eyes at some of the occupants. Quatre set the food down and slid into a seat, blushing lightly and greeting the CSI. "Hi Trowa."

Heero watched as Duo frowned at the two investigators, trying to place them. For a psychic, the man had a terrible memory of people. Winner took the lead and introduced them again

"Duo, you remember Trowa, right? From the crime scene?" The young man nodded. "And this is his partner, Treize."

"Oh, right! Sorry." Duo smiled and rubbed the back of his head with one hand, offering the other to shake. "You're the one who helped me right?" He said to Trowa. "Thanks man, I was so out of it."

"No problem." Came the laid-back reply.

"You guys were at my apartment too, right?"

"Barton and Khushrenada are Forensics." Heero inserted. "It's their jobs to catalogue a scene."

"So you're the guys who deal with the dead bodies?" Duo shuddered a little and Treize laughed.

"Only on the scene itself. That's my job." A blonde woman sat with them spoke up, extending a finely manicured hand. "Dorothy Catalonia. I process the stiffs and find out what offed them."

It was Quatre's turn to shudder.

"Must you be so blunt?" He asked with a little scowl.

"What? It's not as if they have feelings Winner. They're _corpses_. Sometimes not even that."

"Eating here!" Wufei snapped. "Can we please not talk about dead bodies over lunch."

"Especially when it's spaghetti bolognaise." Heero muttered.

"Men." Dorothy huffed, smirking at Duo. "All I have to do is merely mention blood and entrails and they go green. No guts at all."

"Says the woman who talks to dead bodies." Treize shot back. "And I still don't understand why you wanted to be a coroner, of all things. I've seen how difficult it is for you to get a date."

"No one likes a girl that smells of formaldehyde." Quatre poked.

"I'm more afraid of what she has access to. Have you seen the bone saw? Looks like something out of a horror movie."

"Keep talking Khushrenada, and a severed head may just find it's way under your Christmas tree." She turned her attention to the profiler. "As for you Winner, the fact that I beat your ass at fencing every Saturday not enough?"#

"Quatre Winner, Prince of the fencing ring, getting schooled by a lady?" Zechs suddenly appeared behind Wufei's shoulder smiling as he and Treize moved aside for him to pull up a chair. "I'd pay good money to see that."

"She's no lady." The profiler warned.

"If it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck…"

"I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you, Zechs."

Merquise, true to normal form, didn't even notice the new addition to the table. He flipped his long blond hair and smiled winningly at Heero.

"How goes the case, Heero?"

"Slowly." He sighed in reply. "This guy's always one step ahead of us."

"I'm sure you'll get a break soon. Which reminds me, Relena asked after you again." He teased. "When are you next coming over for tea? I have a new car, we can drive out to the Dorlian estate and spend the night-"

"He can't!" Duo burst out with angrily and Heero spun in his seat to stare at the young psychic in surprise, as did the rest of the table's occupants. Zechs appeared unruffled by this.

"Why not?" He questioned with one finely arched eyebrow. "Who are you, anyway."

"Duo Maxwell."

"Nice to meet you." A hand was extended across the table. "I'm-"

"I know who you are." The witness snapped icily, refusing the hand and glaring at Zechs hatefully.

"Really? I don't believe I've met you before."

"Duo!" Quatre admonished before Heero could do it himself. "Don't be so rude."

The witness ignored Quatre completely.

"We haven't met, I just don't like you."

"And what you base this judgement on?"

Duo leaned back in his chair and folded his arms tightly across his chest.

"The fact that you're a slimy pervert that'll hit on anything with two legs." He growled.

"Maxwell!"

Heero couldn't believe what Duo had just said. What was with the sudden attitude? The others' jaws dropped at his words. Quatre was going red-faced in shame as he berated his friend once again.

"Duo, apologise this instant!"

"No." He said obstinately, getting to his feet and heading for the door, leaving his mostly untouched lunch on the table. "I'm not hungry anymore. Fuck this, I'm outta here."

Quatre called after him but was steadfastly ignored.

"I'm sorry Zechs, I don't know what's gotten into him, he's not usually like this."

"Don't apologise for him." Yuy snapped, harsher than he meant to. "He was being an ass and he knew it."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say he was jealous." Dorothy mused.

"Of what?" There's nothing for him to be jealous of!" He replied in frustration. He looked to Winner for confirmation but was shocked to see the blond refusing to meet his gaze. Quatre suddenly seemed be overly interested in his food, and picked at it silently with his fork.

Heero slumped back in his chair and groaned mentally. This was _not_ what he or Duo needed right now.


	11. Yesterday's Friend

-1Author's note

Well hey there,

Depression sometimes sucks the fun out of writing, but I have been keeping tabs on the fandom, when I'm not drooling over Jared Padalecki or reading SGA stuff.

Rest assured that I haven't forgotten (Though maybe you guys have, and I wouldn't blame you either.), so I'm posting this little extra. It's not my best, nor is it long, but it was the best I could come up with at the moment.

Ciao for now and semi-happy reading!

Foreseeable Future, by Hikishi

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not belong to me. This displeases me but hey, what can I do? So please, save your breath and don't sue.

Pairings: ?

Warnings: Blood, Violence, Swearing (of course), Death (though anyone important)

Genres: Angst, Drama, Action, Hurt/Comfort.

**Foreseeable Future**

**Chapter Six**

The next couple of days were filled with an almost sullen silence from Heero's charge. Yuy himself was still angry over the young man's reaction to Zechs. and the refusal to apologise or even explain. Even Quatre was being cool towards him over his behaviour. Duo though, seemed to take it all in stride, not acknowledging that he'd done anything wrong. The man was being maddeningly, frustratingly stubborn and it was driving Heero to his limit.

Zechs was a nice guy, and a good friend. Heero had met him through Relena, stalker that she was. One of his and Chang's first jobs was to babysit Mayor Dorlian's daughter as a favour for Une. She was nice, if a little enamoured of Heero. He'd mistakenly restrained Merquise under the assumption that he was going for Relena at a political function. Turned out that not only was Zechs part of Preventers too, he was Relena's half-brother.

Heero had to admit, Duo had one thing right, Zechs was a charmer. His public profile, Milliardo Peacecraft, was known as the ultimate playboy and charmer, and he had been caught on film in several risqué clinches. Zechs Merquise, his alter ego, wasn't much less flamboyant, and he did have a bit of a reputation for being easy and free. However their relationship had never been more than a couple of dates and one drunken fumble - they'd passed out before sex could occur. It had ended pretty soon after and they had gone back to being close friends, though not for lack of gentle attempts to get him into bed again by Zechs.

What Heero couldn't get his head around was how Duo could be jealous. There had never been any indication from the psychic that he liked him at all, or even that he was attracted to guys other than the odd 'business encounter'

whilst he was on the streets. Add in his connection to the church and their very prickly relationship, and Heero was fairly sure that Duo quite firmly wasn't interested in him in the slightest apart than for the protection staying with the agent gave him.

Heero himself wasn't sure he was that way inclined anyway. He wasn't overtly sexual at all. Most of his past partners or lays had been people he trusted only, and he could count the number of women he'd been with on one hand. Of men, there had been only Zechs, and he hardly count that as more than a bit of drunken fondling, and until Duo, he'd never so much as lingered in his gaze when looking at the same sex. Duo seemed to have some sort of magnetism about him, that drew people in, and not only did it unnerve Heero, it irritated him, to have someone capture his attention and distract him so much.

An otherwise uneventful Wednesday turned into an embarrassing farce for Heero as he trailed Duo around the local mall, clothes shopping. The young psychic had insisting on getting some new clothes after being told that he couldn't return to his apartment for the time being. This of course turned into an excursion complete with stops in the local music shops to scour for CDs apparently.

"Look." Duo growled as they waited in line for a free cashier, a stack of random music in his hands. "Stop being such a goddamn nutcase and step out-" He bumped the Preventer aside with his hip. "Of my space!"

"I need to be close in order to protect you." Heero hissed back as the flashing light signalled till number five was ready to serve them. He stalked after his charge as he headed for the cash register. "I can't very well do that from fifty feet away can I?"

The young man dumped the plastic cases in front of the uninterested teenager and turned to glare at him.

"You don't _have_ to. In case you haven't noticed, we're in a mall."

"No, really."

The sarcasm didn't go down well.

"You're a freak, Yuy. Only you would be suspicious of five year olds and their mommies." He grabbed the plastic sack off the counter. "Do me a favour and go see your doctor for a reality check." Heero could only watch for a moment as his witness stalked off, cast thumping jarringly loud and braid swinging crazily behind him at the heavy limp.

"Lovers' tiff?" The guy behind the counter inquired blandly. Heero barely spared him a glance before following after Duo, this time at a distance.

The bartender stopped off at a stall for a soda, then headed for the bookstore. It wasn't until Duo was walking in the direction of the art shop that Heero noticed the girl. She had short dark hair and was staring quite obviously at Maxwell, angry. She made a beeline for the psychic. Heero suddenly felt like an idiot. Since when did he give ground to snarky, danger-magnet witnesses for suspects to attack in broad daylight? He moved to intercept with a hand on his gun, knowing he wouldn't get there fast enough, and saw her raise her arm, something glinting in her hand. Heero's mind supplied the word knife and his gun was in his own hand, wrist lifting as people scattered out of the firing line, prepared to shoot-

"Oh my god! Are you _nuts!_" Came the almost horror stricken cry of his charge. Heero expected him to do the smart thing and duck and cover.

Duo did the exact opposite.

He grabbed the girl by her raised arm and pulled him around behind him, bizarrely shielding her from his aim.

"Move!" He instructed urgently.

"What the shit?" The girl yelled, catching sight of the gun and paling. "Uh, gun!"

"You've fucking lost it!" Maxwell -there was no other word for it- exploded, staying firmly planted between him and his target. He was now close enough for a point blank range shot, and more than ready to snatch the annoying little bastard and make a run for it "Seriously are you off your rocker? You don't point that thing around in public, EVER!"

"What hell's goin' on!" The girl nearly shrieked. "Who's this psycho?"

Heero realised they knew each other. And felt like a newbie officer for jumping at shadows. When Une found out, his ass was going to be stapled to the reprimand file. He lowered the firearm, noting belatedly that Duo had reacted before he'd even seen the gun. Was his power getting stronger?

The woman's foot came out of nowhere and his firearm was suddenly flying out of his grasp. She pulled Duo back by one shoulder and shoved him aside out of harm's way. Heero was momentarily distracted by his falling witness, wondering inanely if she had stabbed him when she moved, but that was instantly put from his mind when she flew at him, a palm aimed perfectly for that classic disabling nose-break move. He ducked back just in time and caught her arm to pull her off balance and she stumbled but was quick in catching her balance, spinning on her right foot and yanking him hard using his own momentum. Her foot locked behind his knee and her free elbow caught him sharply in the gut. Heero hit the floor and rolled using his legs and scissoring her ankle. A quick twist brought her to the floor with him. He had to think fast and narrowly avoided being nailed in his family jewels. He was on his feet again, taking a defensive stance, just as she did the same. Before either of them could even think of taking the next shot, the horrifying sound of the safety on Heero's own gun clicking off echoed right next to his ear.

"I swear to god, you go for her again and it'll be the last thing you do!"

Heero turned to face the bartender, who was not only holding _his own gun_ on him, but looked damn serious about using it.

"What the fuck Maxwell!" He yelled back in disbelief, looking between him and the girl. "I'm trying to keep you safe you asshole!"

"From me?" The woman snorted, tossing her short black hair. "Where the hell did you find this one Duo? Please tell me you're not fucking him. He's crazy!"

"Don't be a moron Hilde." Came the tight reply, as Duo dropped the gun a little.

"Moron? I'm not the one with the stalker ex-boyfriend! You remember him right? The one you said was 'harmless'?"

"For God's sake that was _one time!__"_

Heero decided he'd had enough. He was, done, out, whatever. Chang could have a go at looking after Duo fucking Maxwell.

He snatched his gun from the witness' hand and walked away.


End file.
